Stories written by

Julian Novitz, The Conversation

A new UK publisher will focus on books by men. Are male writers and readers really under threat?

Current conversations around toxic masculinity make it more important than ever to pay attention to what young men are reading.

Julian Novitz, The Conversation
· May 14, 2025 · 08:30 pm
Ambition, corruption, guerrilla gardening: Eleanor Catton’s ‘Birnam Wood’ is our horror story

Set in 2017, the book follows the intriguing activities of a gardening collective in New Zealand that plants crops where no one will notice.

Julian Novitz, The Conversation
· Mar 11, 2023 · 05:30 pm
Ghoulishness, depravity and stupidity: welcome to the world of Ottessa Moshfegh’s ‘Lapvona’

Set in a medieval Eastern European fiefdom and narrated from a distant third-person perspective, Lapvona has the tone of a ghoulish fairytale.

Julian Novitz, The Conversation
· Sep 05, 2022 · 05:30 pm